Myles Simmons ,
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Last week, the Rams lost in heartbreaking fashion when Joshua Karty’s game-winning field goal was blocked.
On Sunday against the Colts, Los Angeles’ offense made sure it wasn’t going to come down to a kick.
Starting a two-minute drive with 1:44 left on the clock, quarterback Matthew Stafford hit receiver Tutu Atwell for a go-ahead, 88-yard touchdown to give the Rams a 27-20 victory.
Atwell was wide open on the play, as a Colts defender had fallen down close to the line of scrimmage.
It was Atwell’s only catch of the game.
That wasn’t the end of the game, though, as the Rams needed to get a stop on the Colts during their own two-minute drive, as Indianapolis had three timeouts.
But Kam Curl took care of that with his second interception of the day, picking off Daniel Jones on a deep pass to Michael Pittman.
Kyren Williams took two plays to run for a first down, securing the L.A. victory.
While we’ll never know how it would have affected the outcome, Colts receiver Adonai Mitchell made two mistakes that wiped touchdowns off the board.
In the third quarter, Mitchell caught a deep pass down the left sideline, evaded a few defenders, and was on his way into the end zone. But Mitchell tried to switch the ball from his left to right hand to stick it out in celebration and lost control of the ball, with the fumble going out of the end zone for a touchback.
Then late in the fourth quarter, Mitchell was flagged for holding to negate a 53-yard touchdown run by Jonathan Taylor that would have given the Colts at least a 26-20 lead.
Instead, Jones was strip-sacked a couple of plays later and while the Colts recovered it, they still had to punt — setting up Stafford’s long connection to Atwell.
Stafford finished the game 29-of-41 for 375 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions — good for a 123.5 passer rating. It’s the most yards Stafford has thrown for as a Ram, surpassing his 365-yard output in a win over the Seahawks in 2021. Stafford also threw for 376 yards in the 2023 postseason loss to Detroit.
Receiver Puka Nacua had a terrific day, catching 13 passes on 15 targets for 170 yards with a touchdown. His score tied the game with 3:20 left in the fourth quarter, as Stafford hit him with a 9-yard pass on fourth-and-2.
Davante Adams also caught a 10-yard touchdown from Stafford to cap a 13-play, 96-yard drive at the end of the first half.
Jones started the game with his first turnover of the season, with Curl making his first interception of the game on his third play from scrimmage.
Jones finished the game 24-of-33 for 262 yards with one touchdown and an interception.
Tyler Warren got his first touchdown on a running play, taking in a 2-yard TD in the second quarter. He finished with five catches for 70 yards as well as two carries for 3 yards.
Despite his mistakes, Mitchell finished leading the team with 96 yards on three receptions.
But the Rams were able to finish the game victorious.
Now at 3-1, the Rams have a quick turnaround as they’ll play the 3-1 49ers on Thursday night.
The 3-1 Colts will be at home to play the Raiders in Week 5.
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